


Broken Birthday

by NakuNakuNoMi



Category: One Piece
Genre: But It Goes Wrong, F/M, Fluff, ace plans a bday party, injuries mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28057527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NakuNakuNoMi/pseuds/NakuNakuNoMi
Summary: You wanted a lowkey party. Ace wanted to surprise you. If only he wasn't narcoleptic...
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace/Reader
Kudos: 20





	Broken Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> My contribution to Burnthoneymint's birthday challenge on Tumblr! Go check her out and while you're at it, you can stop on my page as well (NakuNakuNoMi) Hope you enjoy this little ficlet! <3

Ace was a ball of youthful energy. Always up for new adventures, always up for fun times. So when you had announced you maybe wanted to do something for your birthday this year, he had gotten to overenthusiastically planning out a bunch of unrealistic concepts. Multiple times you had to step on the break for him and remind him that: a, you were on a ship in the middle of the ocean, b, you would not be stopping for supplies anytime soon and c, that you still would have chores and such to do. 

Ace pouted a little at the way you managed to block off all his huge party ideas, but had to admit that you were right about it all. You were snuggling in bed when you told him what you would appreciate most:

_ “What if we swap chores with someone so we have a day to ourselves? Maybe we can convince Thatch to make me a special birthday meal and y’know… just hang out? It has been a while since we’ve had some time for just the two of us.” _

Ace let out a hum in response. Sure, you had a point, and sure, it sounded like a great plan, but was this really how you wanted to spend your birthday? It was nothing more special than any other day off, save for the special meal that he wasn’t even sure Thatch would have the time for. He looked at you as you turned around in his arms, your eyes bright with the expectation for him to agree with your (simple) plan. He simply couldn’t resist those puppy eyes and nodded, dipping down to place a soft kiss on your lips.    
_ “Sure, if that’s really what you want y/n”    
“Yes Ace, it’ll be perfect.”  _

Your last words were muffled a little as you nuzzled into his chest more, enjoying his warmth now that it was slowly getting colder outside. Already looking forward to a minimalistic birthday celebration, it did not take you long to fall asleep. 

Of course, Ace followed suit, his talent to be able to sleep anywhere even when he didn’t get a narcoleptic spell kicking really fast with you snuggled up to him. But not before formulating a little plan in his head. If you didn’t want a big celebration, he’d accept your wishes, but he couldn’t help but try his best to make it a little more special than you had hoped for. 

\----

The days leading up to your birthday he assured you that he would take care of the meal and the choresswap, even taking over other people’s chores so yours wouldn’t be switched but taken over altogether. You were a little suspicious at his eagerness to arrange all the things for you, but you let him take care of it all without saying too much about it, you figured he was a little sad he couldn’t make his big plans come true and was now trying to compensate by fulfilling your smaller wishes as much as possible. 

You watched as he haggled chores with fellow crewmates and even other commanders. You noticed how he spent quite a lot of time in the kitchen, trying to convince Thatch to spend a little extra time on something for you, just to make your day perfect. It was not clear if he had succeeded in his mission when the night before your birthday came up, but when he joined you in your shared bed, he had a slightly mysterious and satisfied-looking smile on his face. You decided against interrogating him, enjoying some cuddles and already feeling giddy about having a day for just the two of you when waking up. It would be perfect!

The start of the day was in fact, perfect! Ace had gently woken you up with some breakfast in bed, singing some kind of happy birthday tune completely off pitch with a slight rasp in his voice, he had woken up a little early just to make sure his preparations were all done, and hadn’t spoken yet. You giggled at the whole thing, his morning voice was attractive, the breakfast delicious and the singing hilarious. 

After you got dressed and ready for the day, Ace announced that he had one surprise for you. Your eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion. 

_ “That wasn’t the deal Ace!”    
“Ssshhhhhhh, it’s your birthday, you deserve some special things! Don’t worry, it’s nothing too elaborate, I promise. ”  _

You sighed and followed him along the deck, only to end in a familar place: the back deck where his striker was.   
_ “Look, there will be something special happening nearby, so I figured we’d go on a tiny ride. It’s still following your plan of quality time, and we will be back in time to chill and enjoy your special birthday meal. ” _

He seemed so enthusiastic, so full of hope, that even if you wanted to act a little mad for him not following your agreement, you couldn’t stop the corners of your lips from turning upward.    
_ “Fine, I’ll indulge you on your little surprised joyride. But only because that means I can hold you close for a little more.” _

A slight blush tinted Ace’s freckled cheeks as he smiled widely, a triumphant ‘Yessss’ leaving his lips. He readied the striker for the ride, helping you get on as well. You wrapped your arms tightly around his upper body and got ready for the ride, you knew how reckless he got when he was enthusiastic. 

Ace was indeed a little reckless in his steering, but never dangerous, not even when you neared a part closer to an island, the water shallow enough to have all kinds of rocks sticking out of it. He carefully maneuvered in between some of them, before stopping in front of one that was large enough for the both of you to sit on. He helped you up, and joined on the spot next to you in silence, and once you both were settled you looked at him with a questioning look. 

_ “This is nice but wh-”    
“Oh! The show has already started!”  _

Ace pointed to a point a little further from you, and you saw something you hadn’t noticed before in your fear of him hitting one of the rocks. You had been too focussed on the potential hazard as well as the island nearing that you hadn’t noticed a huge school of dolphins, all rapidly swimming and leaping out of the water, almost as if to put on a performance for the two of you. Your mouth fell open in a surprised o-shape. 

_ “They are always here apparently, I heard about it when we were on the previous island but didn’t think we’d get close enough in time. It was Marco’s idea to take the striker.” _

You smiled. 

_“It’s a wonderful surprise, thank you Ace.._ ” you turned to him to give him a proper kiss to thank him, when you noticed his eyes glazing over. 

Shit. Not now. 

It wasn’t the first time you had seen the subtle change that indicated that he was about to pass out, but you were too late calling out his name so he could prepare, and he slumped forward. You reacted on instinct, hooking your leg behind a protruding piece of rock and grabbed your boyfriend quickly, before he’d make contact with the seawater. You succeeded in your mission of saving your boyfriend, but you heard a nauseating crack when you leaped forward, a white-hot pain spreading through your leg immediately. You let out a loud yelp, which woke up Ace immediately, completely disoriented and a little confused. 

_“Y/n! What happened?”_ He clambered back onto the rock, too confused to spot your leg yet, while you felt the tears spring in your eyes. You tried to bite them back, but your leg hurt a lot, you weren’t even sure if you’d be able to remove it from its awkward position without suffering.    
_“You fell asleep and I helped you,”_ you replied through gritted teeth, the wonderful dolphin show now completely forgotten, “ _Ace, I think I broke my leg.”_

Ace then finally noticed the strange position you were in and his eyes widened in a panic. For the next few minutes the both of you tried to figure out what to do and how to get you back onto the striker without causing you too much pain. The best and seemingly only solution was Ace straight up lifting you up from the rock so you wouldn’t have to move much, and he held onto you as he got back onto the striker, apologizing through the whole ordeal.

_“I am so sorry I ruined your birthday, it was meant to be a little surprise, and I just fell asleep like an absolute idiot, I am so sorry y/n.”_ He repeated it as if it was a mantra, and you felt back because you heard the agony in his voice. And while your leg was still hurting like hell, you didn’t want him to think that he had completely ruined your day. After all, it was only morning still. 

_ “Tell you what Ace. You’re going to drop me off at Marco’s and he’s gonna help me fix that leg. Then, you will carry me to our room and we’re going to do what I had planned for my birthday all along: cuddle and be lazy together. If we’re feeling adventurous we can watch the sunset on deck. No need to do anything crazy”   
“Are you sure y/n? It’s not that exciting, and I had many more small things planned…” _

_ “Ace, as long as I am with you, I honestly don’t care how we spend my birthday.”  _

You swore you saw his eyes gloss over momentarily before he regained composure with some new-found courage.    
_ “Okay, I will do whatever it takes to make this your best birthday still, even though I started out on the wrong foot” _

_“You sure you want to use that expression Ace?”_ You raised a brow but let out a small laugh, almost forgetting the pain in your leg.    
_ “SORRY!!!!” _

You knew he was gonna do his best. And you knew it was going to be a great birthday anyway. Broken legs or not. 


End file.
